Kings bench suffers devastating blow following latest Malik Monk injury update
By Quinn Everts
Sacramento Kings sixth man Malik Monk will miss at least two weeks with an ankle sprain, the team announced on Monday. The Kings will be without their sixth man for at least a few weeks, and will have to lean more heavily on Keon Ellis and backup guard Jordan McLaughlin in Monk's absense.
The Kings are incredibly talented at the top, but not as deep as other contending teams around the league — meaning an injury to a key player might be more detrimental to the Kings than to, say, the Boston Celtics.
Unfortunately for the Kings, Monk is the definition of a key player. He's the scoring spark for this team, providing buckets off the bench — Monk finished second in 6MOY voting last season after averaging a career-high 15.4 points per game in just 26 minutes.
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Who can step up in Malik Monk's absence?
Keon Ellis is going to be the biggest beneficiary of Monk missing time. The defensive-minded guard has been phenomenal for the Kings this season, being an irritant on defense and giving the Kings real point-of-attack help on that end. Having a backup guard who is happy to defend opposing stars is an underrated tool in the NBA, and Sacramento's ability to deploy that tool has paid dividends.
Offensively, Ellis is a smart player but can't create a shot like Malik Monk can, and that's where the Kings will struggle for a few weeks. There's just no offensive firepower on this Kings bench beyond Monk meaning the starting unit will continue to be workhorses.
De'Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis are all in the top ten of minutes per game in the NBA. Playing your best players a lot is fine — but the Kings being forced to play all of their stars more than they'd like to this early in the season, and Malik Monk's injury will probably raise those minutes numbers even more.
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